On-the-road EV charging is needed, but most people aren't making regular trips of >250 miles; plus, the real cost savings comes with at-home charging, thanks to the rate premiums charging stations charge. How far are you regularly driving that <500 miles leads to range anxiety? At 500 miles, I'd have to drive 7-8 hours and that would take me from Boston to Niagara Falls with ~30 miles to spare.
Granted, there are always going to be exceptions for vehicles needs and uses, but I think a lot of people suck at making critical decisions about the vehicles they buy (
hence, the $1000/mo car payments that are becoming regular occurrences), confusing "wants" and "needs".
It's a real shame that we don't have better infrastructure to get people modest distances like we could do 100 years ago. Instead, we sold our souls completely to sprawl and the automobile. And now these bigger and heavier vehicles just serve as a feedback loop for others to get big heavy vehicles to feel "safe".
The mileage advertised is "ideal circumstances".
Real-world numbers are extremely mixed:
1. Driving EV's at highway speeds
reduces range by 5 to 15%
2. Cold temperatures, using the heater, and using the seat warmers can reduce the range by
as much as 50%
3. Using A/C on a hot day can
reduce range up to 17%
4. Towing
cuts the range in half
5. EV chargers have issues:
a. They are more ubiquitous now, but not as easy to find as gas stations. You typically have to go out of your way to find them.
b. Sometimes they are broken
c. Sometimes the stalls are full & you have to wait
d. Charging next to someone can
reduce the charging speed
e. The fastest charging I'm aware of is the upcoming RAM 1500 EV, which does an amazing 110 miles in 10 minutes. If you can find the latest Tesla Supercharger & have a newer-model Tesla EV, they can do 200 miles in 15 minutes, which is incredible. However, I timed my ICE vehicle at 2 minutes and 30 seconds to refill an empty tank. I've been on trips in friend's EV's & even 10 minutes can feel like an
incredibly long time when you're sitting there waiting haha
For my particular situation:
1. For Tesla, there's only one repair facility in my state & it's an hour away, which means a 2-hour round-trip, plus shop visit time (estimate an hour for the line, paperwork, check-in, etc.) or having to wait for a tow truck & then arranging for a rental vehicle.
2. My current rental doesn't have the ability to add EV charging, so I'd either have to (1) move, or (2) rely entirely on public chargers, meaning I'd miss out on "topping off" every night at home, which to me is one of the biggest benefits of owning an EV, especially as an "around town" grocery-getter vehicle
3. I drive upwards of 2 hours a day for work (mostly highway, but sometimes sitting in traffic depending on the time of day), as I have clients all over the state & sometimes have to visit multiple sites a day, in temperatures from -14F to 105F in my state, and always have either the A/C or heater & seat warmer on; I'm not willing to compromise personal comfort for range
In America, we drive
about 40 miles per day on average, so for
most people, even a standard 200-mile range would provide plenty of buffer for normal driving; trips could be planned out or an ICE vehicle could be rented for road trips. There's the new RAM 1500 EV, which has a range of 500 miles, but I
didn't have a great experience with the brand in the past, so I'll hold out for the Cybertruck lol. I've traveled with friends & coworkers in various EV's over the years (all models of Tesla, Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, Honda Fit EV, etc.) & none of the ranges are anywhere
near what they advertise in normal, real-world conditions, so you have to make sure the particular EV with the specific range fits your unique set of circumstances, which in my case, would making having a 500-mile battery alleviate my range anxiety, haha!